Congress leaders in Kerala slam each other

A woman Congress leader in Kerala has accused the state party chief of doing things only to lower the image of others, while he said the woman has been criticising the party after she failed to get a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.

Woman Congress leader Shanimol Usman said in a letter to the party's Kerala unit president V.M. Sudheeran that he was only worried about his image and does things to lower the image of others.

Sudheeran said Monday Usman was an aspirant for a Lok Sabha seat and has been criticising the party after she failed to get a ticket.

Usman was taken to task by Sudheeran for an outburst against union minister K.C. Venugopal at a meeting of the party executive here April 22.

At the meeting, Usman demanded that the Congress conduct a probe into the allegations on the relationship between solar scam accused Saritha Nair and Venugopal.

The party top brass was upset because soon after she raised this issue, it made headlines on many TV channels.

Before the meeting ended, Sudheeran censured Usman for her remarks.

In the letter to Sudheeran that also made its way to the TV channels, Usman said it was wrong to punish her for her statements because she spoke only at a party forum and not outside the party office.

Stating that it was unfortunate that she was taken to task for speaking the truth, the woman leader said the state party president in order to raise his image within the party, tries to lower the image of other leaders.

She said Sudheeran in the past had breached party discipline by making statements in public.

Sudheeran told reporters Monday that his office has intimated him about Usman's letter.

"I think the outburst of Shanimol Usman is part of a conspiracy hatched against him (Venugopal) at a time when serious issues are being discussed and is meant to divert attention," Sudheeran said.

"We have decided to form a three-member committee (comprising M.M. Hassan, Laly Vincent and P.M. Suresh Babu) to look into each and every aspect that she has raised. When they submit their report, action will be taken," Sudheeran told reporters.

"She did not make efforts to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls and took a negative stand against Venugopal," he added.